PoV (Lecture 31): Women, War & Peace

Women, War & Peace: From spoils of war to boring budgets: where pirates and finance ministers meet

What does a government budget have to do with war and peace?

Often more than treaties, speeches, or even guns.

When wars end, the real struggle begins quietly—on spreadsheets, in tax codes, and inside ministries that decide who gets paid, who gets protected, and who gets left out. This Pint of View lecture puts public finance and gender at the centre of peacebuilding, showing how seemingly mundane economic decisions shape post-war societies.

Drawing on case studies from across four continents, the talk follows the transition from war economies to peace economies. Choices around taxation, welfare, employment, and public spending can stabilise fragile states or reopen the conditions for conflict.

Along the way, we meet women rarely associated with economics or public finance: pirates, soldiers, military generals, refugee activists, negotiators with warlords, and finance ministers. These are the people who step in after the fighting ends and shape what peace looks like in practice.

Speaker

Dr. Kade Finnoff is Associate Professor of Economics at Azim Premji University and a development economist whose work focuses on countries emerging from violent conflict. She has spent several years working on inequality and violence, particularly sexual violence, in Central Africa, and more recently in India.

Her work also includes the economic integration of people with disabilities with local and international NGOs across South Asia, Central America, and Africa. Kade has served as a technical consultant for Amnesty International, UNDP, UNIFEM, and UN Women on issues ranging from pro-poor macroeconomic policy to gender budgeting of post-conflict development assistance.

Event details

Date: Wednesday, 21 January 2026

Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Venue: Fandom at Gilly’s Redefined, Koramangala

Heavy questions, light drinks.

See you at the bar. 🍺